What Helps Students Stay Engaged? Ask Them!

In all the ongoing discussion about what's best for schools and the students who spend a huge part of their early lives there, few people both to ask the actual students what they think.

On the question of "What engages students?" teacher and blogger Heather Wolpert-Gawron polled her own 220 students for their opinions. Their answers are important for teachers, humane educators and educational reformers to pay attention to.

The list includes:

1. Working with their peers.
   
2. Working with technology.
   
3. Connecting the real world to the work they do.
   
4. (Teachers) loving what you do.
   
5. Getting them out of their seats.
   
6. Bringing in visuals.
   
7. Giving students a say.
   
8. Understanding students (and the fact that they're all different).
   
9. Including lots of variety.
   
10. (Teachers) showing that they're human, too.

Read the complete essay.

Humane education encompasses most of these elements, so it's yet more evidence that students are hungry for learning that's engaging, empowering, and relevant to their lives.

~ Marsha

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